THE RIVER -- "PERSONIFIED"

Ethelda Bartlett

There is a River.*

"..and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters*" ...and there was light (generated by the moving of the water). The River is eternal, it flows from Genesis* to Revelation.* A pure river of water of life, "clear as crystal."

In the fullness of time,* the creator fashioned a sculpture, out of the River,* captured in time, appearing so that we could fully understand the content and purpose of the River.

"For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in out hearts, to give the light of the "knowledge of the glory of God."

...in the FACE of Jesus Christ*

A visible example is an ice sculpture, the purity, beauty, and transparency -- so at one with the water -- its source. Jesus said, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father.*" In other words, "the fullness of the Godhead bodily.*"

There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father (source), the Word (manifestation), and the Holy Ghost (power), these three are one.*

Consider the River proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb, consisting of Water, the universal solvent and the only substance that occurs in all three states of matter at ordinary temperature. Water is composed of three parts -- two parts spirit and one part manifestation! He is manifested so that we can readily perceive and easily understand.

Hydrogen is a spirit ! -- the water-former -- and science tells us that it is abundant in the "Son"! Its other quality is that it is highly flammable.*

Oxygen is essential to life and is the most abundant of the elements. In Him (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of men.*

Here is the meaning! "Oxy" means "acid" (water soluble and reacts to form salt :) * "Ye are the salt of the earth."

The "gen" of "oxy-gen" refers to "genes" or "born" -- ...that Holy thing that shall be born ...called the Son of God.*

The other characteristic of oxygen is that it is magnetic ..I will draw all men unto me.*

The River is a natural source of power. The omnipotence of Almighty God displayed for our consideration as "The River." To enhance our understanding, the River becomes personified, now we can relate.

We see Christ, Who came, not as an angel, but as one of us. We see Christ who has "been there" feeling our pain, experiencing our temptations. Through Him we have a merciful and faithful mediator who is trustworthy. We also see in Him the very brightness of God's Glory and the express image of His person.*

We get into this River through Christ -- the door. He came not by water only but by water and Blood.* The blood is the detergent. We physically get into the written word so that we can spiritually get into Christ. We are washed by the water of the spoken and written word*, by faith the Blood cleanses us*, and our understanding is enlightened by the indwelling Spirit that leads and guides us. Our initial call is to get "in Christ". Our continuous purpose is to allow Him to be "in us" to the extent that His Glory shines through us. This is where the River gets deep. It persists in washing until it finds bed-rock. We are now the river-bed, the stones. We will get tumbled and repositioned and re-shaped. We will ,in fact, be broken.

Spiritually, however, we are lively stones that can grow, and be incorporated into the eternal Plan.

The promise is found in John 4:14 ..if we will allow the River to flow.

Our objective is a progressive conformation into the image of Christ (don't let the enemy discourage you). A building of this caliber requires time.

May a passion grip us, and a fire ignite us, that will compel us to focus, until we, like Christ our example, can know, that no distraction in this life is worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us.*

Our humanistic thinking would want to push that into some future state. Here is truth. We with open face are changed ...from Glory to Glory.*

If Jesus Christ the chief corner stone was also the tree of Life, then we, the body of Christ, as lively stones, can expect to become trees planted by the rivers of water.*

There are tremendous Blessings that follow, as in fresh, fruitful and prosperous in everything. The pre-requisite is found in verse 2 -- submerging ourselves in the River of the Word.

Notice what is on either side of the River in the book of Revelation.* What a peaceful scene, a fruit-bearing, tree-lined River, so magnetically attractive that it causes people to "taste and see that the Lord is Good."

WE ARE DESIGNED TO REFLECT HIS GLORY.

Jesus prayed for us -- awesome thought -- that we would be one* -- one Divine, eternal, RIVER OF LIFE.


Scripture References*

Psalms 46:4
Genesis 1:2
Genesis 2:10 & Revelation 22
Galatians 4:4
John 1:14
ll Cor.4:6
John 14:9
Col.2:9
l John 5:7
Luke 3:16
John 1:4
Matt. 5:13 & Matt.1:35
John 12:32
Heb.1:3
l John 5:6
Eph.5:26 & l John 1:7
John 4:14
Romans 8:18
ll Cor.3:18
Psalms 1:3
John 17:17-23


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